Iris Apfel's 20 Most Iconic Quotes About Confidence, Life, and Style

Pearls of wisdom from a fashion legend.

Fashion lovers across the globe are remembering the iconic life of fashion maven Iris Apfel, who passed away on Friday, March 1, 2024, at the age of 102. The interior designer and proponent of maximalist fashion became renowned for her quick wit and signature style of round spectacles, bold red lips, and massive personal collection of colorful costume jewelry.

Apfel became the first non-fashion designer to be the subject of an exhibit at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2005, which showcased select pieces from her astounding clothing and jewelry collection. Her unique sense of style was also the subject of her own smash-hit documentary film "Iris" in 2014.

Today, she leaves behind a legacy that spans decades of inspiring people to embrace the transformative power of fashion and jewelry. The fashion legend was able to open up an entire world of stylish possibilities by showing how the simple addition of a new cocktail ring or pile of bangles could transform one's wardrobe. Her unapologetic attitude and endless quips about aging also set her apart from an industry that is so often consumed with youth and beauty. Apfel proves that the power of individuality can withstand both the tests of time and trends.

Here, we take a look back at Apfel's most iconic quotes about confidence, life, and style.

"I never had to look for confidence because I just wore what I wanted to wear."

"Great personal style is an extreme curiosity about yourself."

“I think you have to be true to yourself, know yourself, and not be a trend follower. You’ve got to take a few risks.”

"People are so tied up in the worst parts of technology these days. They don’t use their imaginations."

"The fashion industry has done itself in by neglecting the 60 to 80-year-old market. They have the time and the economic resources. They want to go shopping."

"I'm a hopeless romantic. I buy things because I fall in love with them. I never buy anything just because it's valuable."

"Color can raise the dead."

"A museum curator once said to me that there is a great jazz component to the way I do things because good jazz is improvisation and draws elements from all different cultures. And that's the way I do everything — the way I dress and decorate."

"I don't see anything wrong with a wrinkle. It's kind of a badge of courage."

"Oh my God, I'm a walking advertisement for discounted shopping."

"I call myself a geriatric starlet."

"Fashion really is women's liberation in a lot of ways."

"I love high-end designers, but a head-to-toe designer look for me is extremely boring. I've always mixed it up."

"Throughout history, clothes represented who you were; they are a great vehicle for explaining who you are."

"The world is not black and white; there are lots of shades of grey."

"You don’t find out who you are unless you work at it."

"Fashion you can buy, but style you possess. The key to style is learning who you are, which takes years. There's no how-to road map to style."

"Life is grey and dull, so you might as well have a little fun when you dress."

"When you don't dress like everybody else, you don't have to think like everybody else."

"You can't try to be somebody you're not; that's not style. If someone says, 'Buy this — you'll be stylish,' you won't be stylish because you won't be you. You have to learn who you are first, and that's painful."

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